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News.com: Cleric leads marchers into Islamabad

TENS of thousands of Pakistani protesters demanding sweeping reforms have
poured into Islamabad, led by a cleric accused of trying to sow political chaos
ahead of elections.

Tahir-ul Qadri, a Pakistani-Canadian who returned to his homeland last month
after years in Toronto, accuses the government of corruption and incompetence,
and says reforms must be enacted by a caretaker administration before polls.

He claims to be able to mobilise two million people and says his followers will
camp out with food, fuel and blankets until their demands are met.

But the significance of the rally will hinge on turnout, whether there is any
violence and to what extent the protesters are able to penetrate Islamabad,
where shipping containers have been used to seal off the main approaches.

Late on Monday afternoon security officials said the crowd had swollen to about
50,000 people. Observers suggest a turnout under 100,000 would be a washout for
the cleric.

In Islamabad, organisers set up a makeshift stage on Jinnah Avenue, where about
5000 people waited for Qadri to arrive a kilometre from parliament, which is
barricaded behind shipping containers.

His supporters say he gives a voice to masses ruled by a feudal and industrial
elite incapable of redressing a weak economy, a crippling energy crisis,
insurgencies and sectarian violence.

"Look what we are witnessing in our country today. We have no gas, no power, no
petrol. Is this the country we aspired to? We should give Qadri a chance," said
Huma Nadeem, a 20-year-old college girl, in Islamabad.

The floodlit platform has been festooned with portraits of Qadri and bulletproof
glass has been put in place to protect him.

Thousands of security personnel have deployed in Islamabad with paramilitary
soldiers, police and private guards searching all individuals before letting
them cross scanner gates into the stage area, an AFP reporter said.

Mobile phone networks were shut down to stop militants from detonating bombs as
Pakistan suffers frequently from Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked violence.

The government says the Taliban have threatened to attack the gathering.

Qadri wants a caretaker government to be set up in consultation with the
military and judiciary when parliament disbands in mid-March, and is calling for
reform so that "honest people" can be elected at polls due by mid-May.

"We will stay in Islamabad until this government is finished, all the assemblies
are dissolved, all corrupt people are totally ousted, a just constitution is
imposed, rule of law is enforced, and true and real democracy is enforced," he
told AFP on Monday.

If held on schedule, the election will mark the first democratic transition of
power between two civilian governments in Pakistan's 65-year history, which has
been marked by bloodless coups and extensive periods of military rule.

Mainstream politicians fear that Qadri's demand for the military to have a say
in the caretaker set-up could be a ploy by elements of the establishment to
prolong the interim administration and delay elections.